New Industry Products

Vishay Offers Surface-Mount MLCCs With Optional Polymer Terminations

September 18, 2008 by Jeff Shepard

In a move to decrease capacitor failures related to mechanical cracking, Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. announced that its HVArc Guard® surface-mount X7R multilayer ceramic chip capacitors (MLCCs) are now available with optional polymer terminations especially constructed to withstand higher levels of mechanical stress.

With optional polymer terminations, the VJ0805, VJ1206, VJ1210, VJ1808, and VJ1812 HVArc Guard® MLCCs are said to reduce capacitor failures and save warranty costs by confining failures to the capacitor, thus reducing the number of damaged components on the circuit board or damage to the complete device itself.

Optimized for applications including buck and boost dc-to-dc converters, voltage multipliers for flyback converters, and lighting ballast circuits, the MLCCs will be used in lighting systems and power supplies for medical, computer, motor control, construction and mining, and telecommunications applications.

The VJ HVArc Guard® devices feature what is described as a unique, worldwide patented internal design structure that prevents surface arc-over at high voltages. This design is said to allow for higher capacitances than standard high-voltage MLCCs, and facilitates the use of smaller case sizes in high-voltage products, allowing for device miniaturization and reducing component cost.

The capacitors feature capacitances ranging from 100pF to 0.27µF, and offer twice the voltage breakdown in air of standard products with voltage ratings from 250 to 1000Vdc. The devices eliminate the need for conformal coating, and can replace wire leaded through-hole capacitors.

Samples and production quantities of the VJ HVArc Guard® surface-mount X7R MLCCs with optional polymer terminations are currently available, with lead times of approximately nine weeks. Pricing for U.S. delivery starts at $0.057.